PETER ORLANDO H (1810-1897) SIDMOUTH

PETER ORLANDO HUTCHINSON (1810-1897)AND THE GEOLOGY OF SIDMOUTH

J.D. MATHER 1 AND R.F. SYMES 2

INTRODUCTION

The recent publication of a new geological map of theSidmouth area (British Geological Survey, 2005), based onmapping carried out between 1987 and 2000, and itsaccompanying memoir (Edwards and Gallois, 2004), providesan ideal opportunity to review early research in this area, whichhas attracted and inspired numerous workers for over 200years. The 2005 map was the result of the third mappingprogramme carried out by the Geological Survey in the district.The Old Series Ordnance Geological Survey Map Sheet 22,which includes Sidmouth, was drawn up by Henry ThomasDe la Beche in 1834, before his formal appointment to colourgeologically the Ordnance Survey maps in 1835. The rockswere described in an accompanying memoir, the first everproduced by the Geological Survey (De la Beche, 1839). Thearea was resurveyed on the six inch to one mile scale between1873 and 1876, with a memoir following some 30 years later(Woodward and Ussher, 1906).

However, many years before the Geological Survey becameactive the Sidmouth district had attracted natural philosophers,agriculturalists, travellers and topographers, many of whommade observations of geological interest. In the modern era thecoastal sections around Sidmouth form a key part of the Dorsetand East Devon Coast World Heritage Site and are a continuingfocus for research and a valuable educational resource.

One individual who contributed to our knowledge of theSidmouth district was local resident, Peter Orlando Hutchinson,whose small book “The Geology of Sidmouth” was published in1843. Hutchinson was a local notable and benefactor whoenjoyed a modest income and, with no need to work for aliving, was able to follow his own interests, one of which wasgeology. He was an accomplished watercolourist and many ofhis paintings are of geological subjects. It is the aim of thepresent paper to review early studies on the geology in theenvirons of Sidmouth, leading up to the work of Hutchinson,and to show why his watercolours and observations are still ofsignificance to modern geologists.

Mather, J.D. and Symes, R.F. 2006. Peter Orlando Hutchinson (1810-1897) and the geology of Sidmouth.Geoscience in south-west England, 11, 214-221.

The coastal sections in the cliffs to the east and west of Sidmouth have attracted natural philosophers and travellers for hundredsof years. One of these was local resident Peter Orlando Hutchinson (1810-1897). Unmarried and with a modest private incomehe was able to pursue his own interests, one of which was geology. In 1843 he published a short book on the geology of Sidmouthand south eastern Devon. Although his interpretation relies mainly on more distinguished previous authors, the book is full ofcareful and accurate observations and illustrated by his own woodcuts. His legacy also includes over 750 individual drawings,many of which were painted for their geological interest, which depict coastal features, faults and quarry sections, long since erod-ed or destroyed. Fossils which he collected are described in papers published by the Devonshire Association and retained by localmuseums. His work forms a valuable resource still of use to modern professional geologists.

1Department of Geology, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, U.K.(E-mail: [email protected]).

2Violet House, Salcombe Road, Sidmouth, Devon, EX10 8PU, U.K.(E-mail: [email protected]).

REVIEW OF WORK PRIOR TO 1840

Early surveys of Devon already provide a description of themain geological formations in the south-eastern corner of thecounty. Tristram Risdon, writing in about 1630, notes that“….in the entrance [to Devon], on the east side of the shire, themould [the upper soil of cultivated land] standeth most uponwhite chalk……a little further it consists of red and blue marle,which is no[t] rocky, but an earthy substance….” (Risdon, 1811,p.4). William Chapple partially revised Risdon’s account in1785 writing that “….in the entrance on the east part of it[Devon], near the sea, the mould standeth upon white chalk. Inother parts of this neighbourhood it consists either of a red orblue marle, but chiefly the former. The blue is not rocky orgravely….but chiefly of an earthy substance, and of the claykind. But the red marle is here in great abundance, and ingeneral of a rocky greasy substance” (Chapple, 1785, p.15).

In 1794/1796 the physician, William George Maton, travelledextensively in southwest England, visiting Sidmouth. Hisgeological observations were consolidated on a MineralogicalMap of the Western Counties of England, which was in effectone of the first regional geological maps (Maton, 1797).According to this map, Sidmouth was located close to thejunction between sand and gravel to the east and argillaceousgritstone and loam to the west.

The first agricultural survey (Fraser, 1794) added little to theaccount given by Chapple (1785), although it does includea Map of the soil of Devonshire on which the known“lime strata” are marked, including chalk to the east ofSidmouth. Polwhele (1797), in his History of Devonshire, takeshis description of the “strata of soil” from Fraser and,commenting on the distribution of the various rock types,remarks that “…..I do not find that any naturalist has turned hisattention to this research in Devonshire.” (Polwhele, 1797,p.49). A small scale map, showing the Soil and Subsoil of theCounty of Devon, was drawn up by Charles Vancouver in 1808,to illustrate his report on the Agriculture of Devon written forthe Board of Agriculture (Vancouver, 1808). The rocks to the

J.D. Mather and R.F. Symes

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Peter Orlando Hutchinson and the geology of Sidmouth

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west of Sidmouth are described as generally sandy in characterbut including large bodies of strong red gravelly clay mixedwith blue and red indurated marl. To the east, Vancouver(1808) described flinty gravel overlying chalk which was itselfunderlain by a valuable freestone.

In 1815 Robert Bakewell gave a series of public lectures ongeology in Exeter and Bath (Torrens, 2004) and probablyvisited Sidmouth. In any event, on May 16th 1816, he wrote tothe Rev. Edmund Butcher, the local Presbyterian minister, at hisrequest, sending him a series of observations on the geology ofthe country in the vicinity of Sidmouth. Butcher included thisletter in a section on geology in later editions of his Sidmouthguide (e.g. Butcher, 1817). The letter points out that“The southern coast, from Portland Head to Exmouth, exhibitsa fine section of the different strata as they rise in succession tothe south-west….” and is probably the first description of theDorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site, although thisis not recognised in the nomination document (Dorset CountyCouncil, 2000). He correctly identifies the local stratigraphicsuccession as Chalk underlaid by the “foxmold” [UpperGreensand] which is in turn underlain by the “red marle”containing beds of gypsum [Mercia Mudstone].

William Smith’s famous map, the first version of which waspublished in August 1815 (Torrens, 2003), shows little detailover Devon and Cornwall and adds nothing to our knowledgeof the Sidmouth area. The financially better supported map,compiled by George Bellas Greenough and members of theGeological Society of London in 1819, is the first map whichgives a reasonably accurate representation of the local geology.In assembling this map Greenough consulted a wide range of“works” and undertook geological excursions to many partsof the country. Over three successive summers he wasaccompanied by his friend William Buckland (Greenough,1820), who was born in east Devon, at Axminster. Bucklandwas familiar with the local geology (see Buckland, 1822) and itis likely that he provided details of this area for the GeologicalSociety map.

The first detailed descriptions of the geology of thewell-exposed coastal sections to the east and west of Sidmouthwere published in the Transactions of the Geological Society for1822. In a paper, first read to the Society in March 1819, Henryde la Beche provided a section of the cliffs from Bridport toSidmouth and described the various formations beginning withthe “….superior, and proceed[ing] in succession to the inferiorbeds, advancing in each case from the east to the west” (De laBeche, 1822, p.40). William Buckland used the valleys, whichenter the sea between Lyme Regis and Sidmouth, to support hiscatastrophist ideas. He did not believe that the valleys couldhave been eroded by the streams which now flow in them butthat they were the result of a sudden and violent geologicaldeluge in the relatively recent past (Buckland, 1822). In hisbook Reliquiae Diluvianae he used the formation of thesevalleys as one of his “proofs” which established “the universalityof a recent inundation of the earth” (Buckland, 1823 p.228).Both of Buckland’s publications contain two geological viewsalong the coast from Sidmouth to Portland and a geologicalmap of an area from Teignmouth to Portland extendingnorthwards as far as Taunton and Ilchester. The coastal viewswere drawn by Hubert Cornish who also drew the well knownLong Picture of the sea front at Sidmouth published by JohnWallis in 1815.

The information contained in earlier reports is consolidatedin De la Beche’s map of the area, completed in 1834, and theaccompanying memoir (De la Beche, 1839). Thus by 1840there was a reasonably detailed map of the Sidmouth areaavailable at the 1 inch to the mile scale, plus a number ofpapers describing the individual geological units and theirconstituent fossils and minerals.

PETER ORLANDO HUTCHINSON

Peter Orlando Hutchinson (or P.O.H. as he is often known)was born on November 17th 1810 at Winchester where his

father, Andrew Hutchinson, was a physician at the hospital(Linehan, 1983). Andrew was elected FRS in 1804 but does notappear to have achieved anything specific to deserve thehonour. The family had returned to Devon by 1812, living inTiverton and Teignmouth before settling at Sidmouth in 1825when Peter was 15. This was his base for the rest of his life,firstly at 4 Coburg Terrace and then at the Old Chancel, whichhe had erected next door, using stone which he rescued fromthe parish church, when it was rebuilt in 1858/60, and materialswhich he acquired from elsewhere. He never married andspent his life as a gentleman of leisure with sufficient funds toenable him to avoid the need for paid employment.

He wrote an unpublished 5 volume History of Sidmouth,which is held in the West Country Studies Library in Exeter, a5 volume diary for the years 1848-1894 and 6 volumes ofsketches, which are held by the Devon Record Office, also inExeter. In addition he was a prolific writer of books, journaland magazine articles, local guides and letters to newspapers.Unfortunately he destroyed much of his early work, includingdiaries written before 1848, considering them useless andchildish (Linehan, 1983). Extracts from the diaries up to 1870,augmented with extracts from other writings, and illustrated byhis sketches, have recently been published (Butler, 2000).

P.O.H. was a sickly child and was educated at home and atlocal schools, rather than being sent away to board. He had aninfection in his left hip when he was about 7 years old, probablytuberculous (Linehan, 1983), and had a limp all his life. Whenhe reached adulthood he began a series of walking tours in thehope of curing his affliction, spending months walking aroundWales and Scotland. In 1837/8 he was in North America,visiting localities associated with his ancestors who had livedthere before the Revolution. After his father’s death, in 1846,he seems to have settled down to life in Sidmouth where hehad a busy social life and sometimes spent days on foot exploringthe neighbourhood, often with his friend Nicholas Heineken,a retired Unitarian minister. During these trips he made acomprehensive collection of fossils, minerals and flintimplements, many of which are now in local museums.

He became a well-known local eccentric; often shown wearingthe uniform of a lieutenant in the Volunteer Artillery and RifleCorps, formed in 1859 when relations with Emperor Napoleon3rd became strained and an invasion became a possibility. Hehad a wide range of interests, from carpentry to playing theflute, to archaeology and had a reputation amongst local peopleas an expert on more or less anything (Butler, 2000). However,out of all his interests his diary records that the one subjectwhich never lost its fascination for him was geology and evenat the age of 82 he gave lectures at the Old Chancel ongeology, illustrated with drawings (Linehan, 1983).

In a diary entry of November 17th 1881, in which he lookedback over his life, he recorded that “When I was a boy, myyoung mind had been opened to the wonders of geology by aniece of my mother’s, a very clever person indeed, who died afew years after. I had supposed that the round world was merelya mass of earth and rocks pressed together like a snowball, butwhen she explained to me the regular succession of strata andthe great facts involved in their deposition, a new field ofresearch was opened up to me which has never lost its interest.I studied the great section of the Red Marl of the Triassic on theSidmouth cliffs when bathing” (Butler, 2000 p.vii).

THE DOWLANDS LANDSLIP

Beginning on Christmas Eve in 1839 a major landslipoccurred at Dowlands Farm between Lyme Regis and Axmouth.About six hectares of land, which became known asGoat Island, was displaced seawards. A chasm, some 64 mdeep, separated it from the main cliff, extending about 800 mfrom east to west, and some 60 m across from the inlandcliff to the island at the eastern end and 120 m at the westernend. In the chasm were ridges and pinnacles of Chalk andsome large blocks, a hectare or more in size, were tiltedbackwards towards the main cliff. However, the island itself

Figure 2. Section of the Sidmouth Hills facing the sea (fromHutchinson, 1843).


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THE GEOLOGY OF SIDMOUTH

In 1843, perhaps inspired by what he had seen at DowlandsFarm, Hutchinson produced a small book of 69 pages, entitledThe Geology of Sidmouth and of South-Eastern Devon,published by John Harvey of Sidmouth (Hutchinson, 1843). Hewas clearly not entirely happy with the book in later life,describing it, in his will, as a “juvenile performance” (Linehan,1983). The book has no accompanying map but is illustratedby five aquatint plates by H. Haseler, inserted to give an idea ofthe general features of the cliffs, and fifteen woodcuts engravedby Hutchinson himself. The woodcuts are rather crude and theauthor apologises for them in his preface (Hutchinson, 1843).The text is not subdivided in any way and represents a ratherunstructured account of the geology, partly derived from existingsources. However, he had clearly explored the area in fargreater detail than any previous worker and their conclusionsare critically discussed in the light of his own observations.

The book follows the scheme adopted by most geologicalmemoirs beginning with a description of the local topographyand the situation of Sidmouth. Hutchinson then goes onto describe the oldest and most abundant rocks exposed inthe Sidmouth cliffs the “New Red Sandstone Group” (or thePoikilitic Series, following the terminology of Werner). Herecognised that the Lias “which according to regular geologicalsuccession, we ought to have had” (Hutchinson, 1843, p.15)was missing and gives an explanation for this. He then discussesthe Greensand, supposing its colour to be derived fromchlorite. He felt that the capping of clay and flint on the cliffsimmediately to the east of Sidmouth might “….be considered asthe debris of the supracretaceous rocks, which once existedin a more perfect state than now” (Hutchinson, 1843, p.19)and drew a section looking towards the cliffs from the sea(Figure 2). This section is very crude compared with thosewhich he produced subsequently (Figure 3).

Some 20% of the book is devoted to the formation of thevalley of the Sid and other river valleys along the coast. He didnot support Buckland’s catastrophist view on the origin of thesevalleys and after considerable discussion agreed with Lyell thatthey had been shaped out progressively by “aqueous erosion”.Although he was a regular churchgoer, sometimes attendingthree services on a Sunday (Linehan, 1983), he does not appearto have had any problems reconciling the long timescale neededfor such processes to take place with biblical teachings.

He noted that faulting of the strata, although infrequent(Figure 4), was related to the “forces which threw up thegranites of Dartmoor” (Hutchinson, 1843, p.38), failing torecognise the true age relationships between the two events.He discussed the occurrence of useful minerals in thesuccession, gypsum from the red marls and freestone from theChalk at Beer. He was intrigued by the origin of the flintswhich he found widely distributed, even where the Chalk wasabsent, and by processes which had formed the natural archesat Ladram Bay. Later these arches were to form a frequentsubject for his watercolours. He identified what he thought to

was so little disturbed that hedges survived and crops whichhad been sown were harvested the following summer (Arber,1973).

Eminent geologists such as Buckland and Conybeare wererapidly on the scene and sketches made by Mary Buckland,which were “drawn on the spot”, are dated 30th December1839 (Conybeare, 1840). The event caused considerable alarmlocally and Conybeare, then vicar of Axminster, was quick topublish a letter, in a local paper, emphasising that the causeof the “convulsion” was local groundwater rather than somedeep seated geological event (letter dated 31st December 1839,published in Woolmer’s Exeter and Plymouth Gazette4th January 1840 and quoted in Hallet, 1840).

Hutchinson was also on the scene within a few weeks,painting a number of watercolours dated January 14th 1840 oneof which is reproduced as Figure 1. A short article appeared inthe Penny Magazine of February 15th (Hutchinson, 1840a)which includes an etching derived from this watercolour. Hefollowed Conybeare in arguing against an earthquake origin forthe landslip, citing the springs which issued from the soft sandsof the lower beds of the Upper Greensand (the fox mould)immediately above Liassic clays. He considered that “In thecourse of ages these springs carry with them, slowly butinevitably, great quantities of the friable and loose earth,undermining the superincumbent strata, and preparing them fora subsidence as soon as an extraordinary wet season, such aswe have just experienced, shall both hurry away more of theremaining support from beneath, and saturate with a greaterweight of moisture the several soils above” (Hutchinson, 1840ap.57). His explanation differs from that of Conybeare who feltthat the sand had been reduced to the condition of a quicksandinto which the chasm had foundered (Conybeare, 1840).

Later in that year he wrote an illustrated guide to the landslip(Hutchinson, 1840b) which was clearly popular with visitingsightseers as it went to a third edition. He first described theevent and the resulting topography. He then went on toexamine its causes considering the theories of the “aquists”,who believed that water was responsible, and the “ignists” whobelieved that fire could alone have been the agent and that theearth had fallen or subsided and not slipped. His personal viewwas still that the cause of the landslip was entirely land springs,which filtered through the soil, hastened by an inordinately wetseason. The third section of his book gave directions forvisitors who wanted to visit.

His guide was in competition with one by George Roberts,published in Lyme Regis (Roberts, 1840), which went to atleast five editions. The landslip seems to have become aprofitable event for local landowners as an admission fee of sixpence was demanded at Dowlands Farm. If visitors exploringthe landslip strayed on to land within the Bindon Estate anothersix pence was demanded before they were allowed to pass(Roberts, 1840).

Figure 1. View of the landslip near Axmouth, Devon, lookingtowards the west. Painted on January 14th 1840.


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Figure 3. Sections to the east and west of Sidmouth, drawn byHutchinson and published in Johnson-Lavis (1876).

Figure 4. Faults in Salcombe Hill (from Hutchinson, 1843).

Figure 5. View of the cliff at the western end of the SidmouthEsplanade. Painted October 28th 1848.

be veins of volcanic matter injected into sandstones, within theNew Red formation, noting that they had been dislocated by afault subsequent to injection. His diagnosis of these veins asvolcanic was based on their resemblance to amygdaloidal rocksin Exeter. However, a site visit suggests that the “veins” are infact composed of rubble derived from broken up carbonateconcretions formed around plant roots during the depositionof the sandstones. These concretions were subsequentlyeroded and redeposited as discrete beds and lenses within thesandstones.

It seems unlikely that P.O.H. had any formal instruction ingeology. His knowledge was gained from papers and bookswhich he consulted, perhaps on his periodic visits to London orlater in the apartments of the Devon and Exeter Institution,which he joined in 1857 (Linehan, 1983). In the preface to theGeology of Sidmouth he lists Buckland, Conybeare, Lyell,Mantell, Murchison, De la Beche and Fitton as his principalauthorities and many of the direct quotes in the text are takenfrom De la Beche (1839). Although his book provides no newinsights into geological processes, or proposes any newtheories, it is of value because it is packed with his owndetailed observations. For example, he described cylindricalfossil-like remains about the size of a finger, some witha longitudinal hole through their centre. These are nowinterpreted as calcareous concretions precipitated around plantroots and are still common along the coast. He commented onthe shape of gypsum nodules, and described the horizons ofwhite sandstone, the sand from which was collected by thepoorer inhabitants for whitening kitchen floors and steps. Thebook shows that he was a perceptive observer but it is in hiswatercolours that this ability is shown to its fullest advantage.

THE SIDMOUTH CLIFFS

As Butler (2000) has pointed out many of Hutchinson’slandscape views were chosen more for their geological orcuriosity value than their scenic qualities. Faults, quarrysections, springs and blocks of stone interested him more thanthe pastoral scenes produced by other artists. He was criticalof the artistic licence used by others and his subjects are alwaysfaithfully depicted. For example a watercolour of a wreckedbarque on the beach beneath High Peak has the stratigraphicsuccession in the background cliffs faithfully represented.

During his lifetime he periodically returned to paint the samescene, providing a record of the formation and erosion of stacksat Ladram Bay and the gradual disintegration of the ElephantRock, near Dawlish. However, from a geological point of viewhis most valuable pictures are those that show features in thecliffs at Sidmouth which have now been lost by erosion orcovered by coastal engineering works. Figures 5 and 6 showthe sandstone cliffs at the western end of the SidmouthEsplanade, painted on October 28th, 1848. A walkway,completed in the late 1950s, now runs around the base of thecliff and the pattern of faults and fractures has been partlyhidden by stabilisation works. The complex fault to the westof the lime kiln (flying the Union flag in Figure 6) separatessandstones of the Otter Sandstone Formation from mudstonesof the Sidmouth Mudstone Formation and is now completelyobliterated by stone and concrete.

Figure 6. View of the cliff to the west of Figure 5. The Union Flagis flying from the old lime kilns. Painted October 28th 1848.


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Figure 7C. The lime kilns and Jacob’s Ladder. Photographed onDecember 10th 2005.

Figure 7A. The lime kilns and track to the beach. Painted June 3rd1851.

Figure 7B. The lime kilns and Jacob’s Ladder. Painted June 3rd1871.

The first two views in Figure 7, painted by Hutchinsonexactly 20 years apart in 1851 (Figure 7a) and 1871 (Figure 7b),show the lime kiln sitting on top of the sandstone cliff. In 1850steps were cut down the side of the cliff by the lime kiln to thebeach. This developed into a cart track which is depicted onthe 1851 view. The path and much of the kiln fell down inabout 1870. The public had got so used to having access to thebeach that an extremely long ladder was erected, like Jacob’sladder to heaven, in place of the path (Lane, 1990). The accessway to the beach, since 1963 a chineway, has since beenknown as Jacob’s Ladder. A modern photograph of the sameview is also shown as Figure 7c. Protection works beneath thesandstone cliff mean that limited erosion has occurred since1870. However, the mudstone cliffs without protection havecontinued to erode, retreating some 80 m over the intervening135 years.

Hutchinson himself was aware that his detailed observations,made over many years, could be used to calculate rates ofcoastal erosion. In 1882, at its meeting in Southampton, theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science set up aCommittee to inquire into the Rate of Erosion of the Sea-Coastsof England and Wales and the influence of the artificialabstraction of shingle and other material in that action. Theydrew up and circulated a list of 19 questions relating to coastalerosion and P.O.H. completed a questionnaire for Sidmouth(Hutchinson, 1886). He estimated an erosion rate of“….an inch [2.5 cm] a year for the last fifty years, which Iremember; there are soft places in the cliffs that have gonetwice or three times as much, and harder parts not halfas much.” (Hutchinson, 1886, p.421). He concluded thequestionnaire by stating his conviction that, as well as the landbeing worn away by the sea, it was also gradually going down.He noted that shingle on the beach seemed to accumulate anddiminish cyclically and that in January 1873 it had been almosttotally removed. This had exposed stumps of alder treesdotted about the beach, together with five or six mammoth

teeth, which were from 4 to 5 ft [1.2 to 1.5 m] under water athigh tide. On the basis that the trees were above water at thetime of the Norman Conquest he suggested that the land hadsubsided 6 feet 8 inches (2 m) over the past 800 years. Such“submerged forest” beds are widely distributed around thecoastline of south-west England. There is no evidence in thisarea for isostatic rebound during the Holocene (Campbell,1998) and the drowned forest beds are now thought to be theresult of rising sea levels, rather than subsidence of sea shores,and to be very much older than Hutchinson supposed.


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Figure 8. Fossil tooth, found on Sidmouth beach by a visitor fromManchester and drawn by P. O. H. (from Hutchinson, 1871).

OTHER GEOLOGICAL WORK

In addition to the publications already discussed, Hutchinsoncontributed items on geological subjects to journals and localpublications. In 1857 he was asked to write a new guide toSidmouth by a local bookseller. This was published later in theyear and Hutchinson records in an entry in his diary forNovember 20th of that year “This evening I sat down and wrotea review of my own book, the New Guide to Sidmouth forWoolmer’s Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. Perry the publisherthought it was the best plan to adopt and I thought he wasright” (Butler, 2000, p.119). Hutchinson seems to have beentotally unconcerned by this blatant piece of self-promotion,although perhaps the editor of the Gazette was, as it does notseem to have been published! The guide eventually went tonine editions, the final one appearing in 1926, almost 30 yearsafter his death.

Early editions (such as the first edition of 1857) consist of abrief historical sketch of the town followed by an extendedsection on walks and excursions to places as far away asHoniton and Axminster. Many excursion descriptions containinformation on the geological formations encountered and areaccompanied by woodcuts from his Geology of Sidmouth(Hutchinson, 1857). In later editions (such as the eighth editionof 1894) much more attention is given to the town itself and toits immediate neighbourhood and excursions to more distantplaces are omitted (Hutchinson, 1894). A short section ongeology is included, mostly derived from Hutchinson’s ownpublications.

Hutchinson joined the Devonshire Association in 1868 andduring the first decade of his membership was a frequentcontributor of papers. Many of these concerned geologicaltopics, in particular finds of fossil teeth. Hutchinson (1869)reports on the find of a fossil elephant’s tooth. This wasfound on the sea bottom, just to the west of Sidmouth, at lowwater spring tide, by a sailor. P.O.H. paid him five shillings forit and presented it to Exeter Museum. A second find of afossil tooth was reported to the meeting of the Association heldin 1871 (Hutchinson, 1871). This one was found by a visitorfrom Manchester, who unfortunately took it home with heralthough Hutchinson was able to draw it before she did so(Figure 8).

Yet more teeth were reported by Hutchinson (1872).The first, much worn by attrition, was found close to thatreported in 1869. He surmised that all of the teeth might havecome from the skeleton of some large mammal buried close tothis locality and was in fact offered a large curved piece ofbone, supposedly the tusk of an elephant, also from the seabed.He rejected the “tusk” as “not of ivory”. Yet another toothwas found by a fisherman in the bed of the River Sid abouthalf a mile from the sea. This specimen weighed 12 lbs 5 oz(5.58 kg). The exposure of the submerged forest at Sidmouthduring the stormy winter of 1872/3 was reported by Hutchinson(1873). He excavated around one of the trees to demonstratewhether or not it was in situ and found it rooted in blue clay.Four more teeth were found associated with the trees, all ofwhich he collected, presumably at some cost.

In the spring of 1878 a large rock fall brought many tonnesof red marl on to the foreshore about 1.6 km west of Sidmouth.Hutchinson described one of the slabs as follows (Hutchinson,1879, p.383): “This slab, with a top like a table, was composedof beds of clay, loose sandstone and loam. The surface wasslightly ripple-marked, as we sometimes see the clay at thebottom of a pond, or the sand at low water on the shore; andfaint traces could be discerned, as if annelids or other creatureshad been crawling across the mud. But what attracted myattention more particularly was the presence of several stalks orstems of a gigantic reed, equisetum, or calamite, lying acrosseach other, as if they had been growing on the margin of a lake,and had fallen in and sunk to the bottom.” This descriptiondemonstrates his excellent powers of observation and hisability to articulate to his readers precisely what he has seen inan easily accessible style.

Hutchinson also contributed a view of the cliff section fromLadram Bay to Beer Head to illustrate a paper by Johnston-Lavis(1876) on the occurrence of an ossiferous zone containingbones of a Labyrinthodon in the cliff section to the west ofSidmouth (Figure 3). Lavis was a visitor to the town who, whilstwalking on the beach following a major cliff fall, extracted thebones from fallen material which was gradually being washedaway by the sea. This must have irritated Hutchinson whorecords that he had passed and examined the heap of debris“once or twice, but detected nothing” (Hutchinson, 1893, p 175).

In 1875 the Devonshire Association appointed a “Committeefor the purpose of noting the discovery of such facts in anydepartment of scientific inquiry, and connected withDevonshire, as it may be desirable to place on permanentrecord, but may not be of sufficient importance in themselvesto form the subjects of separate papers”. Known as the“Committee on Scientific Memoranda” Hutchinson’s name firstappears on the list of members in 1888. Although he does notmake many contributions to the work of this Committee, in1893 he reported on a significant cliff fall which occurred onJune 8th 1893 beneath High Peak Hill about 2.4 km west ofSidmouth (Hutchinson, 1893). At the time the Sidmouth branchof the Church of England Temperance Society was holding anopen air meeting, over the natural arch at Ladram Bay, about800 m away. There was a terrific rumbling, resembling anexpress train at full speed, followed by a loud crash withfurther smaller falls for about ten minutes. The 100 people inattendance must have wondered what message The Almightywas trying to send to them.

Hutchinson’s unpublished five volume History of the Town,Parish and Manor of Sidmouth, which was begun in about 1852and completed in 1881 (Linehan, 1983) also begins with adescription of the local geology. This builds on his previouswritings and provides a detailed description of the red marlsand sandstones. He subdivides these strata into a number ofdistinct units which he can trace through the cliff section.He also incorporates the finds made along the coast, such asthe bones found by Johnson-Lavis and the celestine-linedhollow nodules from a horizon close to the junction of marl andsandstone.


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DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

Although Hutchinson had a modest private income, whichwas sufficient to ensure that he did not have to work, he wasnot affluent and was careful with money. Home life wasspartan and he lived on an almost vegetarian diet. He nevermarried, considering this a risky and expensive undertaking.However, he considered that living as a bachelor was alsohazardous as it left a man at the mercy of servants who wereusually extravagant and dishonest (Linehan, 1983). Geologywas one of the many interests which he pursued throughout hislife and which, in part, substituted for both the profession andthe family which he never had.

The word amateur has been used over the last 200 years ina variety of ways. Thus an amateur can be regarded assomeone who is an enthusiast, or is unpaid, or lacks formalqualifications or who is second rate (Torrens, 2006).Hutchinson qualifies as an amateur under three of thesedefinitions. He was certainly an enthusiast who visited,measured, mapped and drew cliffs, quarries, fossils and stoneswithin a twenty mile radius of Sidmouth. He was unpaid,although it is possible that he made some money from his guideto the Dowlands landslip and his Geology of Sidmouth. He alsolacked formal qualifications and most of his geologicalknowedge was derived from books and papers, of which heseems to have been an avid reader. Through the DevonshireAssociation he would also have benefited from contact withother Devonshire geologists such as William Pengelly ofTorquay and Arthur Champernowne of Dartington Hall.However, his legacy of publications and drawings shows thathe was certainly not second rate.

His Geology of Sidmouth and other publications contain awealth of detailed observations which are still relevant anduseful to a modern professional geologist. His watercoloursrecord scenes and geological localities which have long sinceeroded away, been removed by quarrying or covered byinfilling. The fossils which he collected enhance the collectionsof both the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter and theSidmouth Museum. The influence of P.O.H is still felt inSidmouth. His gravestone stands in the cemetery, his imagepoints tourists towards the museum, his house, The OldChancel, guards the bowling green and the red cliffs, which he“studied…..when bathing” and which inspired his interest ingeology still dominate the coastline.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to Jenny Bennett for her help with the figuresand to the staff of the Devon Local Studies Library in Exeter forlocating material on the Dowlands landslip. Reproductions ofHutchinson’s watercolours are taken from copies held bySidmouth Museum. The originals are held by the Devon RecordOffice in Exeter.

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PETER ORLANDO H (1810-1897) SIDMOUTH

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